Starke County

A Starke County motorist noticed a car off the road at C.R. 700 South, between 100 West and 200 West, and called police at 2:45 a.m. Wednesday. Police found a seriously injured 19-year-old on the ground by his car. Michael Kirk was taken to IU Starke Health Hospital and then airlifted to Memorial Hospital in South Bend, where he later died. The Starke County Sheriff's Department is investigating the accident's circumstances.

A Chicago-based restaurant furniture maker is moving to Starke County. Selected Furniture announced it is moving to Knox. The company said it will invest more than a million dollars to buy and equip a 200,000 square-foot facility. It also will move its China-based commercial-grade wood furniture manufacturing to that building. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Selected Furniture up to $425,000 in conditional tax credits to move.

A teenager is dead after a crash in Starke County. It happened around 11:30 this morning on U.S. 35 South of 200 North. When police arrived, they found 17-year-old Taylor Wagnor lying on the ground. She was transported to I.U. Health Starke Hospital where she later died. A witness told police Wagnor's car went off the right side of the road for an unknown reason and rolled over. Wagnor was not wearing a seat belt. Police say drugs and alcohol were not factors in the crash

UPDATE: The Starke County Sheriff's Department called WSBT just after 9 p.m. Wednesday to say James Chapman had been found safe. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Early Wednesday afternoon, 13-year-old James A. Chapman was reported missing from his home in the 5000 E block of 100 North in Starke County. He was reported as a runaway who was last seen riding a white mountain bike east on 100 North. Police are concerned for his welfare and ask if anyone has seen James or knows where he is, to call 911 or the Starke County Sheriff's Department at 574-772-3772.

By Clifton French (cfrench@wsbt.com), Click here to follow Clifton on Twitter | By Clifton French (cfrench@wsbt.com), Click here to follow Clifton on Twitter | May 18, 2011

Governor Mitch Daniels has declared a disaster emergency for 34 Indiana counties, including Starke County. Severe weather and flooding has caused major problems for the southern part of the state. In Starke County, it caused two levees to break doing costly damage there. Both of the levees broke in farm areas. One was near the intersection of 400 North and North Range Road. The other broke in the Kankakee Fish and Wildlife preserve. No homes were damaged, still there was significant damage to some farms, livestock and roads.

By Clifton French (cfrench@wsbt.com), Click here to follow Clifton on Twitter | By Clifton French (cfrench@wsbt.com), Click here to follow Clifton on Twitter | April 18, 2011

Holloway Motel's owner says he tries to help people down on their luck by renting rooms at reduced rates or letting them stay for free. Now, because of drug activity and multiple meth labs found in two rooms and on the property Friday, the motel is shut down. Monday, the owner will meet with Starke County health department officials to see what has to be done to allow the business to re-open. Six people, including the motel manager, were arrested at the motel on Friday after police found meth labs and evidence of drug activity.

STARKE COUNTY -- Two Starke County men made a shocking discovery Sunday afternoon when they found a dead alligator while fishing on the Kankakee River. According to the Indiana DNR, Jeff Brewer and his father Steve Brewer discovered the dead alligator stuck in a logjam about two miles downstream from the English Lake public access site. A press release states that The Brewers had just launched their boat when Jeff spotted the foot and tail of an alligator. The Brewers used a net to retrieve the gator from the water and returned to the boat launch to meet with a DNR officer.

A Starke County court has convicted Dale Hite of eight charges -- including resisting law enforcement, causing death. In October of 2009 police say they were investigating a possible meth lab when someone recognized the car he was driving. They say he led them on a high speed chase that ended when he crashed in Grovertown. An accident reconstructionist testified Hite was going at least 124 miles an hour when he crashed into two trees. Amber McMillen and Nicholas White were in the car with him and died.

A Knox woman is facing charges, accused of shoving her 3-year-old stepson to the ground and injuring him so severely that he died. It happened on Father's Day weekend, but charges were just filed Friday against Stacie Brown. “He had a skull fracture, and he had severe swelling to the brain and multiple bruises to head as well as his back.” That is how Nicholas Bourff, the Starke County prosecuting attorney, describes the lethal injuries that Ethan Hazen-Brown endured during a visit to his biological father and stepmother's house in Knox on Father's Day weekend.

By Kelli Stopczynski (kstopczynski@wsbt.com), Click here to become a fan of Kelli on Facebook | By Kelli Stopczynski (kstopczynski@wsbt.com), Click here to become a fan of Kelli on Facebook | August 12, 2011

KNOX - Hundreds of thousands of dollars are missing from Starke County and County Commissioners fired the treasurer and two deputy treasurers this week. But was it bad behavior or a case of bad bookkeeping? A 2009 state audit shows $636,618 missing from that year and Commissioners are projecting at least $300,000 more will come up missing from 2010. County Commission President Dan Bridegroom said so far it appears to be a case of bad bookkeeping, but he also said he's not ruling anything out. Bridegroom said he first noticed discrepancies in Treasurer Linda Belork's reports back in July 2009 - six months after Belork took office.

Michigan has confirmed its first human case of West Nile Virus - and it's in our area. Health officials say a man came down with the virus in St. Joseph County, Michigan. And just last week, we told you that West Nile was detected in mosquitoes in Starke County. Last year in Michigan, 17 people died and more than 200 people got the disease from mosquitoes.

MARSHALL COUNTY - A massive manhunt for a man wanted by police and considered dangerous came up empty Tuesday afternoon. Around 10:15 a.m., county deputies tried to serve 42-year-old William Newman with a felony drug-related warrant out of Fulton County. Newman led police on a car chase that ended in the area of 4th and Rose Road. He then got out of his car and ran on foot into a wooded area of 4B and Redwood Roads, northwest of the Plymouth Municipal Airport.

BASS LAKE - Investigators are trying to figure out what sparked an early Sunday morning fire that destroyed a popular Starke County watering hole. Around 4:30 a.m., firefighters from 5 departments were called to the Sand Bar in Bass Lake. WSBT spoke with Fred Sumpter of the Indiana Fire Marshal's office, who said it's too early to say what may have caused the blaze. The roof caved in, and the inside of the bar is gutted. Bass Lake/Cleveland Township Fire Chief Les Jensen said no one was in the building at the time of the fire, and nobody was hurt.

GROVERTOWN, Ind. - One person is dead after a car drove under a semi in Starke County Wednesday morning. Starke County police were called to the Grovertown Truck stop on U.S. 30 around 6:15 a.m., and when they got there learned a semi hauling a wind turbine propeller completely covered the westbound lane and partly across the eastbound lane. A westbound car failed to see the semi pulling out of the truck stop onto the highway and drove under the semi trailer that was carrying the propeller.

An autopsy has been completed on a Starke County man found dead inside his home. Police say the body was found at a home on Bass Lake last week. Kenny Pfost, chief detective of the Starke County Sherriff's Department (574-772-3771), says no foul play was apparent when they did the autopsy, but they're still waiting on the autopsy report. The man's name is David Griffin. Investigators think Griffin had been dead for some time.

A teenager is dead after a crash in Starke County. It happened around 11:30 this morning on U.S. 35 South of 200 North. When police arrived, they found 17-year-old Taylor Wagnor lying on the ground. She was transported to I.U. Health Starke Hospital where she later died. A witness told police Wagnor's car went off the right side of the road for an unknown reason and rolled over. Wagnor was not wearing a seat belt. Police say drugs and alcohol were not factors in the crash

UPDATE: The Starke County Sheriff's Department called WSBT just after 9 p.m. Wednesday to say James Chapman had been found safe. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Early Wednesday afternoon, 13-year-old James A. Chapman was reported missing from his home in the 5000 E block of 100 North in Starke County. He was reported as a runaway who was last seen riding a white mountain bike east on 100 North. Police are concerned for his welfare and ask if anyone has seen James or knows where he is, to call 911 or the Starke County Sheriff's Department at 574-772-3772.

LaPorte County Work Release escapees found out they could run, but not hide from police … even if it was in a closet under a pile of blankets. LaPorte Police checked at a house just after 3 a.m. Friday, hoping to locate escapees from LaPorte County Work Release. With police securing the perimeter of a house in the 800 block of Kingsporte Avenue, Police Capt. Clyde Crass believed he saw 21-year-old Randall Madaras get out of a chair and run toward the back of the house.

A Starke County community is celebrating a world record attempt that wrapped up overnight. In Knox, WKVI DJ Tom Berg set out last week to break the Guinness World Record for the longest continuous broadcast. He set the mark at midnight, 187 straight hours on air! Berg's record-breaking attempt became a big community event in Knox. He estimates about 250 people showed up at the station to celebrate his achievement. WSBT asked him what he is most looking forward to now that it's all over.

A Starke County court has convicted Dale Hite of eight charges -- including resisting law enforcement, causing death. In October of 2009 police say they were investigating a possible meth lab when someone recognized the car he was driving. They say he led them on a high speed chase that ended when he crashed in Grovertown. An accident reconstructionist testified Hite was going at least 124 miles an hour when he crashed into two trees. Amber McMillen and Nicholas White were in the car with him and died.